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Media Literacy for All
Millions of teenagers will be eligible to vote this November. Fifty percent of voters 18-24 are expected to vote this presidential election, according to Tufts University. Most teens today are networked with their peers and disseminate information quickly. They use social media to share news stories, comment on developments, register to vote, and urge their friends to take action. But that doesn’t mean they’re savvy when it comes to separating election fact from fiction. Distortion and misinformation -- so-called fake news spread by teens and adults -- has cast a shadow on political discourse. In 2020, Naperville Central senior Braden Hajer identified misinformation as a school project and concluded that media literacy needed to be taught. He worked with his teacher, with activists, and State Rep. Elizabeth Hernandez of Cicero to draft a bill mandating media literacy education.
The National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE) defines media literacy as the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, create, and act using all forms of communication. In July, the General Assembly passed Public Act 102-0055 on Media Literacy, becoming the first state to mandate this type of education. Since the 2022-23 school year, Illinois high schools are required to offer a course on media literacy at
least once during the school year. Instruction covers how to access information and evaluate the credibility of the source. In addition, students are taught how to analyze media messages and create their own. They also learn how media messages trigger emotions and sometimes, bad behavior. Teaching media literacy can help combat the current misinformation epidemic. It empowers students and others to ask questions and make sound judgments rooted in fact and evidence. In the words of Stanford University researcher Sam Wineburg, it teaches to “derive truth from falsehood, bias
from reality, and promote values steeped in objectivity instead of emotion.” By developing student media skills, teachers help strengthen our citizenry and American democracy. AI-generated content makes fact-checking even more critical because AI-generated texts and images can be inaccurate, biased, plagiarized, or entirely fabricated. It often is created to intentionally spread disinformation.
Everyone needs to be media literate in today’s environment. Just as we look at food labels and shop for the most nutritious foods, comparing news across a variety of sources should become routine. A list of fact-checking sites was published earlier on the League of Women Voters Facebook site (20+) Facebook to assist with this. The upcoming election serves as a reminder for everyone to check their media literacy knowledge.
The problem of mis- and disinformation is the subject of 0ur League of Women Voters OPRF fall kickoff on September 24. Our guest speaker, Michael A. Spikes, lecturer at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, is involved in bringing media literacy into schools and classrooms, specifically implementing K-12 curriculum for educators in Illinois. He’s been honored by the Illinois News Broadcasters Association for his work. We’ll also hear from two specialists on the subject from
the League of Women Voters of Illinois, who will share some do’s and don'ts of election disinformation. The program at the Oak Park Main Library Veterans Room begins at 6:30pm. Admission is free and open to the public. Invite your friends!
Beverly Tuck
Vice President
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